Plot synopsis

On March 22, 1920, in Sevastopol, at a meeting of the Military Council in the Grand Palace, Lieutenant General Pyotr Nikolaevich Wrangel was elected as the new commander-in-chief of the last white army on Russian territory. After his appointment, Wrangel said: "Under the current conditions, we cannot count on victory. I can promise only one thing: to preserve the honor of the Russian flag to the end."
The White Army kept its promises of alliance to Great Britain in World War I until the very last day. In March 1920, Great Britain presented Wrangel with a demand to cease military action and began negotiations with the Soviet leadership. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lord Curzon, suggested to the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs Chicherin not to continue the offensive in the south and not to invade Crimea, where the armed forces of southern Russia were located. Chicherin did not give an answer, demanding a lot of political concessions. As a result, Wrangel received a note: "General, if you want to stay in Crimea, negotiate with the Soviets yourself. If you continue the war, we will not provide you with any material assistance."
In response to the British note, Wrangel stated that his direct negotiations with the enemy were excluded. In addition, Pyotr Nikolayevich proposed something that 59 years later the writer Vasily Aksyonov would turn into the plot of his science fiction novel "The Island of Crimea". Wrangel wrote to the British: "There is no need for a new offensive on Moscow. It is necessary to simply preserve a healthy core in Russia, it is necessary to ensure the inviolability of the territory of Crimea with the army of 40 thousand remaining here, with its population that accepted this army, and with refugees from all over Russia in the amount of half a million people. This is enough to stop the civil war in Russia, and this is necessary for the civilized world as a whole." Crimea, according to Wrangel, was to become a model for the future Russia. Why this did not happen - the next episode of the historical cycle tells.

Commentaries

Сценарии телесериала «Исторические хроники с Николаем Сванидзе», с 1913го по 1933 год. [Scénarios de la série télévisée « Chroniques historiques avec Nikolaï Svanidzé », de 1913 à 1933], Marina ZHUKOVA, Амфора, 2014

- Screenplay

Selected in the following festivals or events :

- Historical Chronicles with Nikolay Svanidze, (kinoglaz.fr), 2026

Photos, videos, texts

Piotr WRANGEL (Пётр Николаевич ВРАНГЕЛЬ) 1878-1928